2020 NBA Free Agency

The Nets did not have much cap space entering free agency this year as Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and DeAndre Jordan take up over 75% of the team’s cap room. However, the Nets did have their MLE (Mid-Level Exception) to spend and had a key free agent in Joe Harris to go out and retain. 

They did just that and as mentioned earlier, the Nets re-signed Joe Harris to a four-year, $75M deal to keep him with their championship contending roster for years to come. The Nets also signed guard Tyler Johnson and veteran forward Jeff Green. 

Tyler Johnson joined the Brooklyn Nets for the NBA bubble last season on a contract kind of structured like a 10-day contract, but for the remainder of the season. In the NBA bubble, Tyler Johnson was one of the Nets best players as he averaged 12.0 points and shot 38.9% from deep in 8 games with Brooklyn. 

With the playmakers the Nets have in Durant, Irving, LeVert, and Dinwiddie, Tyler Johnson is nothing more than a catch-and-shoot three-point specialist, which is something you can never have enough of in today’s NBA where shooting is at a premium. 

Jeff Green is another under-the-radar signing this offseason because he is a fantastic bench player. This will be Green’s third team he has played for within a year, but everywhere he has been, he has contributed. The Rockets acquired Green near the trade deadline last year and he quickly became one of their “go-to” players off the bench. He ended up averaging 12.2 points and shooting 35.4% from deep in 18 games with the Rockets. He should provide immediate depth in the second-unit behind Kevin Durant and Joe Harris. 

Free agent signings are the key to building championship rosters, which is why the Nets were aggressive last year acquiring the All-Star and championship level talent they did, but it does not mean anything if your team is not healthy and able to compete.